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Top 25 Ernest J. Gaines Quotes (2025 Update)

Ernest J. Gaines Quote: “My master jecked up my dress and gived my mistress the whip and told her to teach me a lesson. Every time she hit me she asked me what I said my name was. I said Jane Brown. She hit me again: what I said my name was. I said Jane Brown.”

1. “My master jecked up my dress and gived my mistress the whip and told her to teach me a lesson. Every time she hit me she asked me what I said my name was. I said Jane Brown. She hit me again: what I said my name was. I said Jane Brown.”

— Ernest J. Gaines

Ernest J. Gaines Quote: “I want you to show them the difference between what they think you are and what you can be.”

2. “I want you to show them the difference between what they think you are and what you can be.”

— Ernest J. Gaines

Ernest J. Gaines Quote: “I have no more to say except this: We must live with our own conscience.”

3. “I have no more to say except this: We must live with our own conscience.”

— Ernest J. Gaines

Ernest J. Gaines Quote: “No matter what you do, no matter how hard you work, how much you love, they catch you off guard one day and break you.”

4. “No matter what you do, no matter how hard you work, how much you love, they catch you off guard one day and break you.”

— Ernest J. Gaines

Ernest J. Gaines Quote: “We must live with our own conscience. Each and every one of us must live with his own conscience.”

6. “We must live with our own conscience. Each and every one of us must live with his own conscience.”

— Ernest J. Gaines

Ernest J. Gaines Quote: “We ain’t giving up,” I said. “We done gone this far.”

7. “We ain’t giving up,” I said. “We done gone this far.”

— Ernest J. Gaines

Ernest J. Gaines Quote: “It came from a piece of old wood that he found in the yard somewhere. That’s what we all are, Jefferson, all of us on this earth, a piece of drifting wood, until we – each one of us, individually – decide to become something else. I am still that piece of drifting wood, and those out there are no better. But you can be better. Because we need you to be and want you to be.” – Grant.”

8. “It came from a piece of old wood that he found in the yard somewhere. That’s what we all are, Jefferson, all of us on this earth, a piece of drifting wood, until we – each one of us, individually – decide to become something else. I am still that piece of drifting wood, and those out there are no better. But you can be better. Because we need you to be and want you to be.” – Grant.”

— Ernest J. Gaines

Ernest J. Gaines Quote: “The sky blue blue, Mr. Wiggins.”

9. “The sky blue blue, Mr. Wiggins.”

— Ernest J. Gaines

Ernest J. Gaines Quote: “Plege legen toda flag. Ninety state. ‘Merica. Er – er – yeah, which it stand. Visibly. Amen.”

10. “Plege legen toda flag. Ninety state. ‘Merica. Er – er – yeah, which it stand. Visibly. Amen.”

— Ernest J. Gaines

Ernest J. Gaines Quote: “That’s man’s way. To prove something. Day in, day out he must prove he is a man. Poor Fool.”

11. “That’s man’s way. To prove something. Day in, day out he must prove he is a man. Poor Fool.”

— Ernest J. Gaines

Ernest J. Gaines Quote: “I spoke to the Old Man a couple of times, but I’m sure He didn’t hear a word I said. He had quit listening to man a million years ago. Now all He does is play chess by Himself or sit around playing solitary with old cards.”

12. “I spoke to the Old Man a couple of times, but I’m sure He didn’t hear a word I said. He had quit listening to man a million years ago. Now all He does is play chess by Himself or sit around playing solitary with old cards.”

— Ernest J. Gaines

Ernest J. Gaines Quote: “Memories wasn’t a place, memories was in the mind.”

13. “Memories wasn’t a place, memories was in the mind.”

— Ernest J. Gaines

Ernest J. Gaines Quote: “You wanted the past changed, Reverend Martin,” she told him. “Even He can’t do that. So that leaves nothing but the future. We work toward the future.”

14. “You wanted the past changed, Reverend Martin,” she told him. “Even He can’t do that. So that leaves nothing but the future. We work toward the future.”

— Ernest J. Gaines

Ernest J. Gaines Quote: “If I ain’t nothing but trouble, you ain’t nothing but Nothing.”

15. “If I ain’t nothing but trouble, you ain’t nothing but Nothing.”

— Ernest J. Gaines

Ernest J. Gaines Quote: “Go and be fish again.”

16. “Go and be fish again.”

— Ernest J. Gaines

Ernest J. Gaines Quote: “I didn’t want to show it. Because if what he was saying was true, there wasn’t a thing I could do about it. Marshall was too big. If it was just Bonbon who wanted to hurt Marcus, you might be able to prevent that. Bonbon was nothing but a poor white man, and sometimes you could go to the rich white man for help. But where did you go when it was the rich white man? You couldn’t even go to the law, because he was the law. He was police, he was judge, he was jury.”

17. “I didn’t want to show it. Because if what he was saying was true, there wasn’t a thing I could do about it. Marshall was too big. If it was just Bonbon who wanted to hurt Marcus, you might be able to prevent that. Bonbon was nothing but a poor white man, and sometimes you could go to the rich white man for help. But where did you go when it was the rich white man? You couldn’t even go to the law, because he was the law. He was police, he was judge, he was jury.”

— Ernest J. Gaines

Ernest J. Gaines Quote: “Read. Read. Read. Write. Write. Write.”

18. “Read. Read. Read. Write. Write. Write.”

— Ernest J. Gaines

Ernest J. Gaines Quote: “I don’t care what a man is. I mean, a great artist is like a great doctor. I don’t care how racist he is. If he can show me how to operate on a heart so that I can cure a brother, or cure someone else, I don’t give a damn what the man thinks; he has taught me something. And that is valuable to me. And that is valuable to others and man as a whole.”

19. “I don’t care what a man is. I mean, a great artist is like a great doctor. I don’t care how racist he is. If he can show me how to operate on a heart so that I can cure a brother, or cure someone else, I don’t give a damn what the man thinks; he has taught me something. And that is valuable to me. And that is valuable to others and man as a whole.”

— Ernest J. Gaines

Ernest J. Gaines Quote: “The heavier the burden, the longer they look at you. And Miss Julie looked at me a long, long time.”

20. “The heavier the burden, the longer they look at you. And Miss Julie looked at me a long, long time.”

— Ernest J. Gaines

Ernest J. Gaines Quote: “Writing is too goddamned hard for me to think about a soul in teh world... I don’t think about a soul, but just try to get those goddamned characters to act right.”

21. “Writing is too goddamned hard for me to think about a soul in teh world... I don’t think about a soul, but just try to get those goddamned characters to act right.”

— Ernest J. Gaines

Ernest J. Gaines Quote: “I was not there, yet I was there. No, I did not go to the trial, I did not hear the verdict, because I knew all the time what it would be. Still, I was there. I was there as much as anyone else was there.”

22. “I was not there, yet I was there. No, I did not go to the trial, I did not hear the verdict, because I knew all the time what it would be. Still, I was there. I was there as much as anyone else was there.”

— Ernest J. Gaines

Ernest J. Gaines Quote: “Ain’t we all been hurt by slavery?”

23. “Ain’t we all been hurt by slavery?”

— Ernest J. Gaines

Ernest J. Gaines Quote: “My six words of advice to writers are: “Read, read, read, write, write, write.”

24. “My six words of advice to writers are: “Read, read, read, write, write, write.”

— Ernest J. Gaines

Ernest J. Gaines Quote: “We’ve only been living in these ghettos for seventy-five years or so, but the other three hundred years – I think this is worth writing about. I think we’ve made tremendous sacrifices, we’ve shown tremendous strength. In the ghetto you see a lot of frustration; you see very little strength.”

25. “We’ve only been living in these ghettos for seventy-five years or so, but the other three hundred years – I think this is worth writing about. I think we’ve made tremendous sacrifices, we’ve shown tremendous strength. In the ghetto you see a lot of frustration; you see very little strength.”

— Ernest J. Gaines

Ernest J. Gaines Quote: “The last thing they ever want is to see a black man stand, and think, and show that common humanity that is in us all. It would destroy their myth. They would no longer have the justification for having made us slaves and keeping us in the condition we are in. As long as none of us stand, they’re safe. They’re safe with me. They’re safe with Reverend Ambrose. I don’t want them to feel safe with you any more.”

26. “The last thing they ever want is to see a black man stand, and think, and show that common humanity that is in us all. It would destroy their myth. They would no longer have the justification for having made us slaves and keeping us in the condition we are in. As long as none of us stand, they’re safe. They’re safe with me. They’re safe with Reverend Ambrose. I don’t want them to feel safe with you any more.”

— Ernest J. Gaines

Ernest J. Gaines Quote: “That’s what life is about, doing as good as you can. When the times comes for them to lay you down in the long black hole, they can say one thing: ‘He did as good as he could.’ That’s the best thing you can say for a man. Horse breaker or yard sweeper, let them say the poor boy did it good as he could.”

27. “That’s what life is about, doing as good as you can. When the times comes for them to lay you down in the long black hole, they can say one thing: ‘He did as good as he could.’ That’s the best thing you can say for a man. Horse breaker or yard sweeper, let them say the poor boy did it good as he could.”

— Ernest J. Gaines

Ernest J. Gaines Quote: “Why?” I kept on asking myself. “Why? Who is this boy and why?” I knew that white men bonded colored boys out of jail for a few hundred dollars and worked them until they had gotten all their money back two and three times over. But I was trying to figure out why Marshall Hebert would do this when he already had more people than he needed. Now I knew. This little old lady had the finger on him, too.”

28. “Why?” I kept on asking myself. “Why? Who is this boy and why?” I knew that white men bonded colored boys out of jail for a few hundred dollars and worked them until they had gotten all their money back two and three times over. But I was trying to figure out why Marshall Hebert would do this when he already had more people than he needed. Now I knew. This little old lady had the finger on him, too.”

— Ernest J. Gaines

Ernest J. Gaines Quote: “They had chopped wood here too; then they were gone. Gone to the fields, the small towns, the cities – where they died. There was always news coming back to the quarter about someone who had been killed or who had been sent to prison for killing someone else: Snowball, stabbed to death in a nightclub in Port Allen; Claudee, killed by a woman in New Orleans; Smitty, sent to the state penitentiary for manslaughter. And there were others who did not go anywhere but simply died slower.”

29. “They had chopped wood here too; then they were gone. Gone to the fields, the small towns, the cities – where they died. There was always news coming back to the quarter about someone who had been killed or who had been sent to prison for killing someone else: Snowball, stabbed to death in a nightclub in Port Allen; Claudee, killed by a woman in New Orleans; Smitty, sent to the state penitentiary for manslaughter. And there were others who did not go anywhere but simply died slower.”

— Ernest J. Gaines

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